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December 30, 2007
Creating Value in a Negotiation
Negotiation is about the exchange of currency. Currency in a negotiation usually is far more than money. Understanding the totality of currency of a negotiation is essential in negotiating the optimum resolution. Obviously the currency differs depending on the situation and the parties involved. To be able to negotiate well one needs to develop the discipline of identifying and interjecting alternate or ancillary currencies into the discussions.
Understanding the currency of a specific negotiation enables you to focus on satisfying the wants and needs of each other rather than simply trying to win. Expanding the negotiation discussion to include these alternate currencies provides additional incentives for the parties to agree on a myriad of terms rather than disagreeing on one major point. Diluting the importance of the primary term may convert a troubled situation into a mutually beneficial accord.
By incorporating ancillary currencies, you will increase the opportunity to craft an agreement that yields a greater return on your investment than merely bartering dollars. Often it enables you to garner value from the other person for something that you intended to provide anyway. Dollars are only one measure of value. Feelings, recognition, success, inclusion, service, image, ego and future opportunities are less measurable currencies but often they are more important than the dollars.
Ancillary currencies may seem to have little or no value to you but may be vitally important to the other person. It is the disparity of value that makes converting idle currencies into valued commodities in a transaction the creation of value. Bartering is the exchange of like value for like value. Negotiating is the creation of value and is more art than discipline.
Posted by Bill at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2007
Mistakes Hurt a Negotiator
Everyone makes mistakes. To try and fail is far better than not trying at all. Unless failure spells your demise! In today's civilized world, failure at the mediation table seldom results in death for one of the parties.
Fear of failure, however, can paralyzes otherwise competent negotiators. That is a major problem in that we must face and embrace the act of negotiating in every aspect of our public and private lives.
We are taught to win in America and almost any cost. Winning is what we are about as a culture, a society and as a nation. The problem is that everyone can't win. In fact, most sports teams don't win their conference titles. Only one team prevails.
So if we are expected to win but reality mandates that only a small percentage of us can actually be winners how are we to handle coming in second best?
In a good poker game the worst thing that can happen is to draw a hand that is second to the best possible hand. In a game like Omaha you can see from the board what the possibilities are. If there are three diamonds showing but no pair on the board you know that a flush is likely but a full house impossible. Your king high flush is so good, the second highest possible hand, you have to stay in and match all bets. But, if others are betting aggressively, you know someone else likely has the ace high flush. But you are not sure. And, as they always say, to win you have to play.
Second best hurts simply because there is no reward for being second across the finish line on in poker. But there is comfort in knowing that all of us lose from time to time. The key is to win more than we lose. That means learning from our mistakes.
Yes, we all make mistakes. No worries, everyone makes them. Coming in second should only motivate us to sharpen our skills and try again.
Mistakes come in varying sizes. The bigger the mistake, the more likely it will be noticed. If, in that poker game, you are beat by several other players, then you need to assess how you are calculating the odds. Obviously you are not reading the hands right.
In a negotiation small errors are recoverable and forgivable. Large errors implying deceit or ignorance can prove very costly. How to handle mistakes made in a negotiation:
If it is an innocent error, admit it and move on. Do not offer to compensate the other for the faux pas. It was unintended. Everyone makes mistakes. What's the big deal? It can be blamed on moving too quickly, not catching a minor change in a document, or simply a typing error. Don't give it any more attention than you would a clerical error. Be willing to do the same if the other person slips up. If it is not material move on.
If it was a tactical blunder or bluff that was called, assess the real damage. Some compensatory groveling may be in order. You may be able to ease the situation by suggesting that you had to try it, even though you knew it would not fly. Or that you were not sure how firm he was in his position and had to test the waters. You can even feign humor asking the other person if he really thought you were serious. If really desperate you could claim that you knew better but your boss made you to try it. The bottom line is that you will have lost ground and will need to redouble your efforts to make it up. You credibility, at a minimum, will be diminished.
If the mistake involves a lie or falsehood and it is discovered you have a significant problem. Your integrity in on the line and the other person has every right to walk away. Before you can get back into the negotiation, you need to repair the relationship. Be prepared to take the brunt of the other's wrath. You deserve it. Depending on the extent of the damage, you may have to suggest replacing yourself as negotiator. This is best done if the situation is very important. You can and should fall on your sword and tell everyone the deal is too important to be jeopardized by a stupid act on your part, then bring in a new face to handle the salvage operation.
Your word is or should be sacrosanct. Do not soil your good name to win a battle. You will place the war in jeopardy. Innocent mistakes or mistakes made in haste are forgivable. Lies and deceit erode your ability to negotiate effectively.
Posted by Bill at 01:32 PM | Comments (0)